Anyone, regardless of the time he or she takes to complete an ultramarathon, is deserving of respect for their accomplishment. But for Shaun Evans, the completion of the Sweltering Summer Six-Hour on Aug. 17 in Pittsfield, Mass. was especially memorable.

Evans won the race, going 44.42 miles in the allotted six hours, and he did it the hard way: while pushing his 100-pound son Shamus.

Shamus, 7, suffers from cerebral palsy.

“[Shamus] told me before, he said ‘I want to win the race dad,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh I don’t know if I can win the race, but I’ll do the best I can,’” Shaun Evans told Saratogian.com.

Team Evans completely dusted the competition, with the second-place finisher logging 35 miles (100 laps).

“I almost started tearing up a few times because I was going to make his dream a reality, and that’s all I was thinking as we entered the final laps,” said Evans.

Duncan Larkin

Duncan Larkin is a freelance journalist and author who’s been covering the sport of running for over a decade. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. He wrote the book RUN SIMPLE, and coaches runners of all abilities.
You can learn more about him here: http://roadsmillslaps.tumblr.com/about